Third World Cup Stadium Construction Death Reported

As Brazil rushes to complete stadiums on time for the 2014 World Cup, concerns for the safety of construction workers have arisen.

The latest death, reports Reuters, was 22-year-old Marcleudo de Melo Ferreira, who died in a hospital after falling nearly 35 meters off the roof of the Arena Amazonia in the city of Manaus. USA and Portugal have a match scheduled there on June 22.

A construction worker fell to his death at Arena Amazonia in Manaus, Brazil.

Workers had already been killed at three of Brazil’s 12 World Cup stadiums. Fatal accidents have occurred in Manaus, Brasilia and most recently in Sao Paulo, where two people died on Nov. 27 after a crane collapsed in the arena that is to host the opening game on June 12.

Preparations for the World Cup have also been plagued by delays, accidents, cost overruns, and public anger over government waste that contributed to massive nationwide street protests last year.

Andrade Gutierrez, the Brazilian firm building the Amazon stadium, said in a statement that Ferreira worked for a company that had been contracted to build the arena’s cover and an internal investigation of the incident would be conducted.

The rainforest region now faces a serious chance the stadium will not be delivered as planned by Dec 31, despite reaching 92 percent completion, reports the London Telegraph.

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